Writing Your Way Through Cancer by Chia Martin (Hohm Press, 2000, 125 pages) applies several journaling techniques – letters, affirmations, poetry, dialoging and dream work – to the emotional and physical aspects of the cancer journey. Beautifully written, it provides the basics and the inspiration you need to begin journaling. Offering both consolation and encouragement, Writing Your Way Through Cancer helps readers to view cancer as a catalyst for spiritual transformation.

Color Code: White – I

Availablility: Brackenridge

From the Publisher “How can I know if I’m really cured?” “Will anyone ever be attracted to me again?” “Will I ever get to enjoy sex again?” “It is safe for me to get pregnant?” “How do I live well beyond menopause without estrogen replacement therapy?” “What do I tell my boss?” “My daughter wants to know if she’s going to get breast cancer too. What should I tell her?” If you are one of the 2.6 million women in the U.S. living beyond breast cancer, these may be some of the questions troubling you. You’ve been through diagnosis and treatment; now you’re ready to move from “I have breast cancer” back to “I am leading a normal life.” Living Beyond Breast Cancer will help you understand and manage the tough issues you face as you go on beyond treatment, and well into the future. You’ll learn how to become as healthy as possible for as long as possible by eating right, managing your weight, and finding an exercise program that works with your lifestyle. You’ll find out what to do if you’ve got to stop taking hormones or want to start. You may also need advice on achieving intimacy and having a baby. You’ll also find invaluable guidance on growing older and navigating troubling symptoms of menopause, particularly when they’re brought on by chemotherapy or tamoxifen or by stopping hormone replacement therapy. A normal life includes dealing with job and health care issues and wills. So you’ll find in-depth information on these subjects too. You’re a survivor, and you’ve got a future. This empathetic book, filled with comprehensive medical information, practical advice, and the voices of survivors who have lived through everything you’re goingthrough, will help you celebrate your second chance at living beyond breast cancer.

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Annotation After Cancer offers a complete look at the medical, practical, and psychosocial issues people must cope with during cancer recovery. Presented in a clear, question-and-answer format, the book covers such important topics as cancer prevention after treatment, understanding reevaluation and follow-up, common physical and social aftereffects, and more. From the Publisher This is the first book written by a doctor for the layperson that addresses the medicine, the practical issues, and the psychosocial elements of recovery after cancer treatment. The author, a cancer survivor herself, understands that surviving cancer is more than just killing cancer cells and getting through treatment. Patients must deal with the emotional, social, spiritual, and financial fallout of a cancer diagnosis. By helping survivors understand that they can’t go back to where they were before cancer, she liberates them to move forward to a different, “new normal.” Writing in a reader-friendly, question-and-answer format, Dr. Wendy Harpham addresses a wide range of issues realistically yet hopefully. Among them are understanding the medicine of reevaluation, follow-up, and prevention after treatment; dealing with the most common physical aftereffects of treatment; learning how to make decisions about work and school; relating to friends and family; helping children deal with parents’ cancer; and coping with the practicalities of living wills and insurance. An important section on post-cancer fatigue will be of special interest to patients who find that exhaustion is one of the most difficult problems with which they deal.

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Annotation “Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore and get this amazing book that explains how you can ‘think’ yourself sick or well…”– Ann Landers From the Publisher Unconditional love is the most powerful stimulant of the immune system. The truth is: love heals. Miracles happen to exceptional patients every day patients who have the courage to love, those who have the courage to work with their doctors to participate in and influence their own recovery. “Run, don’t walk, to the nearest bookstore and get this amazing book that explains how you can ‘think’ yourself sick or well…Every family should have a copy. It can be a lifesaver.” Ann Landers Author Biography: Bernie Siegel, M.D. embraces a philosophy that is at the forefront of a society grappling with medical ethics and spiritual issues. His books, Love, Medicine and Miracles published in 1986, Peace, Love and Healing in 1989, and How to Live Between Office Visits in 1993, have broken new ground in the field of healing. Over the span of twenty years, physicians have become increasingly more receptive to his message. Bernie’s efforts have now turned toward humanizing medical care and medical education, and he continues to travel extensively with his wife Bobbie, to speak and run workshops, sharing his techniques and experiences. Bernie and Bobbie have five children and six grandchildren (so far).

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From Library Journal Benjamin, director of a Santa Monica program recently featured on 60 Minutes , encourages cancer patients to become active participants in the healing process, and thinks that psychological, emotional, and social support should be an integral part of their therapy. His book answers such questions as “Is there such a thing as a cancer-prone personality?” and “How can I enjoy intimacy and affection after cancer?” This would provide an excellent springboard for anyone wishing to join or start a support group. Recommended. Judith Eannarino, George Washington Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.

Color Code: Yellow – C

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Reviewer: Charlotte Brewster from Dallas, TX USA I am slightly biased in my review of Celebrating Life, as I am one of the survivors whose story is told in this book. Sylvia Dunnavant poignantly related each story mostly in the survivors’ own words, allowing the reader to feel the pains, the fears, and the joys expressed. I’ve had the honor of meeting most of the subjects in the books, but I literally “know” them from their stories…I FELT what their words expressed. Even now, I continue to go back and read about many of the experiences in this book. As I look back on my own bouts with breast cancer, mine seem rather minor compared to some of the women’s stories. (And there is one MAN’s story as well)! Sylvia did a beautiful job of photography. All the photos were taken by Ms. Dunnavant. The book is, of course, about SURVIVORS “celebrating life”, and that celetration of life is reflected in all of the photographs. At the time my picture was taken, I was bald, but the eyes, the smile, and the expression Ms. Dunnavant captured express HOPE and JOY, and an appreciation for life! This is seen throughout the book in great color photos of each survivor. One other point: the age range of the survivors is from mid-twenties to late eighties, which should interest all age groups. It’s a book in which the reader has the freedom to skip around without missing anything. Start at the back, or in the middle and read the stories in whatever order you like! Each one is it’s own personal saga, and each photo is there to put a FACE on the story. Someone you know is bound to benefit from these encouraging readings. It’s a wonderful gift for women who have been diagnosed, who are going through treatment, (AND for their relatives), or for those who are now looking forward to the years ahead as survivors. AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN NEED to read about life AFTER SURVIVING breast cancer – a life of fullness and hope – and focused on truly CELEBRATING LIFE! During this month of October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month), I urge you to give this book to someone you care about – I promise you, they’ll be pleased to receive it.

Color Code: Yellow – A

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Synopsis Harpham “deals here with ‘the difficulties of raising children when a parent has cancer and proposes approaches for preventing and responding to common problems in a healthy way.’ Harpham, a parent with cancer, is also a physician, and the last . . . {section} of this title is a children’s book, Becky and the Worry Cup, drawn from the experience of her own children.” (Libr J) Bibliography. Index. Annotation Written in a clear, direct, and sympathetic tone, this guide presents much-needed advice for parents afflicted with cancer on how to help their children cope with the devastating effects the disease can have on their lives. Packaged with the book is Becky and the Worry Cup, a specially designed guide for children. Illustrations. 176 pp. $30,000 marketing. Radio satellite tour. Online promo. 25,000 print. From the Publisher When a Parent Has Cancer: A Guide to Caring for Your Children is a book for families written from the heart of experience. A mother, physician, and cancer survivor, Dr. Wendy Harpham offers clear, direct, and sympathetic advice for parents challenged with the task of raising normal, healthy children while they struggle with a potentially life-threatening disease. Dr. Harpham lays the groundwork of her book with specific plans for helping children through the upheaval of your diagnosis and treatment, remission and recovery, and, if necessary, confronting the possibility of death. With full understanding of the difficulty of achieving balance in the midst of change, she emphasizes the importance of being honest with your children about the gravity of the illness, while assuring them that their basic needs will always be met. She encourages families to create a “new normal,” in which cancer becomes a manageable part of daily life, and suggests concrete, creative ways for all family members to work together to achieve this equilibrium. Dr. Harpham also addresses the special needs of single parents, as well as teenagers and the well spouse, who are learning to cope with a loved one’s illness. Included with When a Parent Has Cancer is Becky and the Worry Cup, an illustrated children’s book that tells the story of a seven-year-old girl’s experiences with her mother’s cancer. Becky and the Worry Cup, which can be read by the child alone or together with a parent, poignantly touches on the fears, anger, guilt, and uncertainty that children feel when their mother or father is sick.

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Annotation When Mom gets cancer all of the family’s routines are disrupted, but with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and rest, she eventually gets well enough to do the things they did before she got sick. From the Publisher When Mom gets cancer all of the family’s routines are disrupted, but with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and rest, she eventually gets well enough to do the things they did before she got sick.

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Cancer de seno es un libro que desmitifica esta terrible enfermedad y orienta al lector a traves de la avalancha de informacion–confusa y, a veces, contradictoria–que constantemente se publica en los medios de comunicacion acerca de ella. Destinado a servir de guia tanto para las mujeres a quienes se les haya diagnosticado cancer de seno como para aquellas que estan “a riesgo”–y, en general, para todas las mujeres–,el libro explica en detalle los pasos que se requieren para hacer un diagnostico seguro; los tratamientos medicos mas eficaces disponibles hoy en dia; los factores de riesgo asociados con esta enfermedad; y lo que las mujeres que la padecen, al igual que sus familiares y amigos, pueden hacer para contribuir a su recuperacion.

Color Code: Yellow – E

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From the Publisher When Katherine Russell Rich was 32, a newly divorced magazine editor living in New York City, her 10-year ordeal with cancer began. Soon she was bald, scrambled, and living in two worlds simultaneously: the world of the ill, of treatments, exhaustion, and doctors focused on avoiding malpractice suits; and the “normal” world, where dating, career, vacations, and 401(k) plans still mattered. Dazzling in its writing, The Red Devil is alternately wise and wisecracking — it is the story of a woman who has been brought to her knees several times, only to get up and learn to dance.

Color Code: White – I

Availablility: Brackenridge